


Animation Love

by empeeters



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-07-27 16:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16222712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empeeters/pseuds/empeeters
Summary: Emma spends every summer at a camping in Storybrooke. Only this year, there's a new animator who has caught the blonde's attention.





	1. Back Again

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I started writing back in 2014, but then I dropped it about a year later. I’ve tried to rewrite most of the first chapters, and will continue the story from where I left off. I hope you’ll all enjoy this one! (Also, this first chapter is quite long compared to how much I usually write per chapter, so be prepared for shorter chapters in the future!)

“Are you sure you’ve got everything packed? That you didn’t forget anything?” Mary Margaret asked concernedly. She had always been overly protective, and being worried was just one of those things she did. When she was younger, Ingrid and James would come to pick her up at their parent’s home. But ever since she turned 16, they all had managed to convince Mary Margaret to let Emma travel to Storybrooke by herself. “Yes, mom. I’ve got everything.” The blonde reassured her.

Ingrid went to high school together with Mary Margaret. And they had been pretty close since, they even lived together for over a year until the pixie haired brunette met her prince charming. A few years ago Ingrid met James, and they had been living together since. The older blonde woman was like an aunt to Emma, since David nor Mary Margaret had any brothers or sisters, Ingrid and James fulfilled that role.

As she put the last few things in her backpack, David entered the kitchen. “Have fun, Emma.” He said, as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “Yes, and be careful! And text us when you get there!” Mary Margaret added. Emma nodded in response, as she moved closer to give her a hug. “I will.”

About 30 minutes later she arrived at the train station. “Thanks for dropping me off! I’ll call you later!” Emma said, as she got out of the car. She waved at David as he drove away, before grabbing her headphones out of her backpack, and plugging them into her phone. After scrolling through the songs for a while, she put on one of her favourites. She grabbed her pack of cigarettes as well, and lighted a cigarette.

A good fifteen minutes later, she heard an announcement through the music. “The train to Storybrooke is going to arrive in a few moments.”

When the doors opened, she stepped inside and sat down on the first seat on the left. She grabbed her book and continued it from where she left off the night before.

‘We’ll arrive at Storybrooke Central in 10 minutes. Please make sure you don't forget your personal belongings, and enjoy the rest of your day.’ It sounded, a good two hours later.

Emma grabbed her phone and send a text to her godmother.

Sent (10:07 AM): Can you come pick me up? My train will arrive in 10 minutes.  
Received (10:09 AM): Okay, I'm on my way.

When Emma saw the familiar area, she put all her personal belongings back in her backpack, her book and her bottle of water, and put her red leather jacket back on.

She decided to walk towards the front of the train station, and light another cigarette in the meantime. Emma had started smoking during her first relationship. Emma went through hell, during and after. Only her closest friends knew the entire truth, about what had happened at the time.

A good ten minutes later she saw the familiar white Hyundai Santa Fe pulling up to her, “Hey,” Emma said, while opening the trunk and throwing her bag and backpack in there. She closed it, walked to the front of the car and took place next to her aunt. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, Emma. Thanks. And how are you doing, honey?” Emma put away the mobile device in her pocket after she removed the earbuds, since she was still holding it in her hand. “I’m great,” she said as she buckled her seatbelt.

When Ingrid parked her car in front of their caravan James walked outside to greet the blonde. “Good morning, Emma.”

“Good morning.” The blonde replied, while getting her bag and backpack out of the trunk. “Hey, is it okay if I just leave my bags here for now? And unpack my stuff after lunch?” She asked, as she walked into the caravan and put her bags on her former bed. She hadn’t used it in years, since she had been sleeping in the tent.

“Yes sure, Emma.” Ingrid said with a smile, which Emma returned. “Thanks!” She hurriedly said as she got out of the caravan and walked over to the main building.

* * *

After she entered the hallway, which led towards the teen cave. She could already hear Killian’s laugh echoing through the hallways. Once she entered the room she greeted Killian and his sisters, before sitting down next to younger guy as they caught up on what they had been doing for the past year.

A few moments later another familiar face entered the room as well. “Ruby!” Emma exclaimed happily, as she ran towards the girl and tripped over one of the chairs in the progress. The girls burst out into laughter as the blonde tried to get up on her feet again.

“Are you okay?” Ruby asked worriedly. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Emma chuckled. “How have you been?”

“I’m fine,” The brunette answered, as she sat down next to Emma, on the opposite side of where Killian was sitting.

God, was she happy to see her again. Ruby had always been the hardest one to say goodbye to, she was basically the most important person in Emma’s life, and the blonde had honestly no idea what she would do without her. Ruby was the one she had known the longest as well, she was the first one she met all those years ago.

A knock sounded on the door. It was Jefferson, he was an animator here last year as well, so he knew our group already pretty well. “Hi! Our activity is going to start in a few minutes, and I came to see if you guys would like to help again?” They both nodded. “Yeah, of course!” They said, as they got up. “Okay, I’ll see you guys in a minute!” The animator said before walking towards the hall.

Anna and Elsa were both 16 and 17 years old, they had loved helping little children for as long as Emma could remember. So naturally they were both planning on joining the animation team themselves when they turned 18.

“Are you guys coming too?” Anna and Elsa asked, as they were walking towards the door. “Yeah sure, why not?” Emma said, while she looked at the other two still sitting in the sofa with her, as they both nodded.

Killian, Ruby and Emma went to sit down at one of the tables in the centre of the room, while Anna and Elsa sat down at the adjacent table, where some kids were already sitting.

The sisters were currently helping a little boy with curly brown hair with his drawing. A brunette woman, whom was sporting the yellow shirt worn by the animation team, walked up to them. "Wow, Roland! That's a beautiful drawing!" She said.

"Thanks! Anna and Ella helped me!" He answered enthusiastically. The mispronouncing of the older sister’s name caused them to laugh.

“Well, fuck.” Emma sighed. She was gorgeous, beautiful brown eyes, brown hair which just reached her shoulders and god, that ass.

The brunette looked up, and caught Emma staring at her. "Hi, I don't believe we've met? I'm Regina."

"Hi, no- no we haven't. I'm uh, Emma." She stuttered. ‘What the fuck, Swan? Act. Normal.’

"Nice to meet you, Emma." She said, as her lips curled into a perfect smile.

"Jesus fucking Christ." The blonde whispered, when the older woman had made her way to one of the other tables.

"Seriously, Swan?" Killian said to her. "She's not that hot."

Emma shot a glare at him. “Do you need glasses?”

This was something the two of them usually did together, while Anna and Elsa helped the kids, Killian and her would check out the girls that hung out there as well, usually older sisters of one of the kids. They usually didn't agree since their taste in women was quite different, but they had fun.

Killian is one of her best friends, they met nine years ago, and they had been pretty close since. He was annoying 50% of the time, but Emma wouldn't be able to live without him. 

* * *

 Ruby and Emma went outside about an hour later, the activity would be finished soon anyway.

"So, you're into the new animator?" Ruby asked, as they sat down on one of the benches. "How can you not be into her? She's so hot. And she seems like an amazing person to be around." Emma answered, as she looked up at the sky. "But she's also so out of my league..." The blonde sighed.

"Oh please, you're a catch!" Ruby argued. "Just don't rush things. I don't want you to get hurt again." She added.

Emma sighed, she looked at her wrist. The scars were still showing, so many things had happened in the last 3 years... She closed her eyes as she tried to shake the thought off, and enjoyed the sunshine.

When Elsa, Anna and Killian came outside a few minutes later, the group made their way to the soccer field. They usually hung out there. As they arrived, Emma noticed a familiar face a bit further away. “Hey, Graham!” She yelled.

He looked up, and ran towards her, picking her up and spinning her around. "Graham, dude I've missed you." She said, as soon as he had put her back down.

Graham was like her older brother; she could always go to him if there was something wrong. If there was something bothering her, he would fix it.

Emma walked back to the group, Graham following her. “How have you guys been?” He asked them, as he and Emma both sat down next to the others. “Great!” They all replied, as they continued catching up.

The time flew by, and before Emma knew it, it was 12.20pm, she got up and walked back towards her caravan to have lunch. And after, Emma started to unpack, as promised. She put her clothes in the small closet space above her former bed. She slept there when she was younger, since a few years, she slept in the tent which was set up next to the caravan. When she was finished, she greeted Ingrid and James and went on her way to Killian’s.

Emma arrived at Killian's around 1:30 PM, she made her way inside the boy's caravan. "Hey bro." Emma said, while bumping his fist. "Did Anna and Elsa leave already?" Killian nodded in response, "Aye, they left 10 minutes ago."

"Okay, where's your mom though?" Emma asked, while sitting down next to him. "She went out cycling with my dad, she'll be back later this afternoon." Emma nodded, "I'll see her later then."

"So what's on the planning for the animation tonight?" She asked, as Killian started up the game.

Killian eyed her suspiciously, "Are you actually suggesting you’d rather go to the animation than to that beach party? What's on your mind, Swan?" He asked, as he handed Emma a can of Coke."Nothing, I just wanted to know what you guys are going to do tonight." The blonde replied defensively.

"Sure." He said knowingly, it was obvious Emma just wanted to see Regina again. "There's a quiz thing tonight at 8 PM. And Regina is hosting it." Emma nodded. "W- wait, why would I care about Regina?"

Killian patted the blonde's shoulder, "Oh, Emma. Do you honestly think I'm blind? You have the biggest crush on her." The brunet chuckled, as Emma went quiet, not really sure what she should say. "You should ask her out." Killian said.

Emma shook her head, "Are you insane? I can’t just ask her out."

“Sure you can.” He answered, as Emma shook her head, "Let me kick your ass in this game now." She said as she tried to change the subject, while grabbing one of the controllers from the table.

About an hour later, a familiar voice called Emma's name from outside.

They paused their game and Emma opened the door to find her best friend standing there.

"Hey Em, I was wondering if you'd like to go out for dinner tonight, I'm dying for some sushi." Ruby exclaimed, as Emma walked towards her.

"Why don't we just go get some take out and have a picnic at the beach?" The blonde suggested. "I like the way you think, Em." Ruby stated, "So, let's meet at the reception, around 7pm?"

"Any chance we could go a little earlier? There is a quiz tonight, and Regina is hosting it, apparently." Ruby nodded, "Yeah, sure. I can't let you miss that, now can I?" She said, with a smirk on her face. "How about 5pm?"

Emma nodded. “I can’t wait to hear about everything that has been going on in your life.” Ruby smiled at the blonde. "Yeah, me too! But anyway, I’ve got to go. I still need to unpack some stuff. But I'll see you tonight." Ruby said as she gave the blonde a hug and went back to her caravan.

Emma walked back into Killian’s caravan and sat down again as she grabbed the second controller, unpausing the game so they could continue.

"Well about Regina, you could always just ask her to go out for drinks, as friends." Killian said, a few moments later. Emma shook her head. "And then end up in the friend zone? No thanks."

"Then just ask her out, you're kind of running out of options here." He stated. The blonde sighed. “Why do you have to be such a pain in the ass, like all the time?” Killian chuckled in response, as they continued to play the game.


	2. Getting Closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Ruby spend some time together. While Ruby stresses about her possible date with Belle, Emma tries to ask Regina out on a date as well.

Around 5 pm, Emma walked up to the reception. Ruby was already sitting there on one of the benches.

"Hey Em!" She greeted the blonde.

"Hi." She smiled back.

They walked to the sushi place, which was on the boulevard, and ordered the usual, when they got their orders they walked onto the beach, the sun was slowly breaking down. Which made the sky look like a beautiful shade of pink.

"Belle called earlier." Ruby stated, as they sat down in the sand.

Emma looked at the brunette. "What did she say?"

"She wants to go out for dinner the day after tomorrow."

Emma was amused by the little smile that appeared on the brunette's lips. She was the cutest when she did that. "Awesome, it'll be your very first date."

Ruby shook her head. "Shut up. For all I know it isn't even a date."

Emma chuckled. "Well, it probably is."

* * *

About an hour later, they made their way back to the camping.

When they arrived at the main entrance, the blonde turned towards her brunette friend. “You want to go kayaking tomorrow? I heard the weather was going to be great.” 

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, I'd love to! Around 11AM?""

"11 is great." Emma replied, before saying their goodbyes. They split their ways, Ruby went to her caravan and Emma made her way to Killian's caravan. She grabbed a cigarette out of her pack, and lighted it, while continuing her walk. And of course, she had to run into Regina.

"Good evening, Emma." The brunette offered the younger woman a smile.

"Hi." Emma said with a sheepish smile,

"Will you and Killian be joining Anna and Elsa tonight?" Regina asked, while tugging a few locks of hair behind her ear.

Emma nodded, "Yeah, I'm going to meet them at their caravan right now."

"Okay, I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, I'll see you later." The blonde said, before walking off.

* * *

It was a few minutes past 7 and Emma, Anna, Elsa and Killian entered the hall.

The animators were currently dividing the children in 4 groups. Anna joined the first one, Elsa the second one, Kristoff the third one and Jefferson the fourth and last one. While Emma and Killian decided to go sit at one of the empty tables. Regina was hosting the quiz. And Killian was giving annoying comments to everything Regina did. But Emma couldn't stop staring at the brunette's eyes. How could this woman possibly be real? Her entire body was perfect. Emma sighed, as her eyes traveled their way down.

"Stop staring at her butt." Killian smirked, "Or at least do it discreetly."

Emma choked on her drink. "I'm not _staring_."

"Sure you're not, you're just looking around."

"Shut up, Killian."

Emma looked back to Regina. Her eyes were golden brown, suddenly Regina looked right at the blonde. Brown met emerald for a mere second. Emma felt her face turning red, and looked down almost instantly.

* * *

 During the break, Regina walked up to Emma. Whom was currently standing outside, smoking a cigarette.

"You smoke too?" Emma asked her.

"Yeah, bad habit." She answered.

"Indeed it is." Emma handed the brunette her lighter, since Regina was clearly unable to find her own.

"Thanks." She replied, while lighting her cigarette.

"How long have you been coming here?" the brunette asked.

"Since I was 7 years old, this place is like a second home to me."

Regina smiled. "So, you basically grew up here?"

"Indeed." Emma nodded.

They talked for a while. About the most random things, where they lived. What their hobbies were, and some other stuff. But there was only one question Emma really wanted to ask. Do you want to go out with me. She took a deep breath. "Do you want to -"

"Regina! We're going to start again soon!" Jefferson interrupted.

The brunette nodded. "I'm coming!" She quickly put out her cigarette, "I'm sorry, I have to go, but we'll definitely continue this conversation later." She said with that perfect smile on her lips, while walking back inside.

"I'll see you later." She muttered, so silent that the brunette probably didn't hear her.

Killian walked up to the blonde, once Regina went back inside. "Emma, how hard is it to ask someone out? What's the worst thing she can say?" He said, while grabbing a cigarette out of his pack.

"She could say no." She said, while handing him her lighter.

"Indeed. It's not like she'll bite or something. Just ask her, Swan."

The rest of the night went rather smoothly, at 9PM, when the quiz was finished, they helped cleaning everything up. About 30 minutes later the group walked to Killian's caravan. They had a drink and said their goodbyes afterwards. Emma went to her caravan and read a few chapters in her book, before she went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Emma woke up at 8 AM. She had cereal for breakfast, and made her way to the sanitary block afterwards. She took a shower, brushed her teeth and combed her hair. When she was finished she walked over to the Jones' their caravan.

"Good morning," She said when she entered their front tent.

"Good morning," Elsa replied. While Anna just waved because her mouth was still full of cereal.

"Where's your brother?" Emma asked.

Anna pointed at her brother's tent, "He's still asleep." The smaller brunette explained after she swallowed.

"Since when does he sleep 'till after 9?" She asked surprisedly. “Hold on.” She said, as she walked back outside, on her way to Killian's tent. She grabbed the zipper and yanked it open. “Hey asshole, get up!” She yelled at him, getting a pillow thrown in her face in return. “Fine, I deserved that. But get your ass out of there.”

It took him quite some time, but 30 minutes later the brown haired boy was finally standing next to her, fully dressed and ready to go. "Where are Anna and Elsa?" He asked.

"They left a few minutes ago." Emma explained. "It's almost 10 AM."

"Right,” Killian nodded. “So what are we gonna do?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know. Let's just hang out a little, I've got to go in about 40 minutes though, I'm going kayaking with Ruby."

"Right, you mentioned that yesterday, so what are we going to talk about? Your newest crush maybe?" Killian smirked.

"Shut up Killian."

* * *

Around 10.30 AM Emma walked back to her caravan to change. She wore swimming shorts with some flowers, and a sweater. She put on a pair of old vans and walked towards the reception, where Ruby and herself had decided to meet. The brunette was already standing there.

The 2 of them walked inside the yellow painted building.

"Good morning, we would like to rent a kayak." Emma told the older lady, who she behind the desk.

"Sure, please grab your safety vests over there." The lady said, while pointing at a box in the far left corner.

Each of them grabbed a vest, and returned to the front desk.

The lady handed them 2 keys. "Here are the keys to unlock your kayak."

"You will get your ID back when you return the keys and safety vests.” The woman continued as she smiled at the two of them, “Enjoy.”

Emma nodded. “Thank you.” She said, before walking off with her friend.

About an hour later they returned to the reception, the older lady wasn't there anymore. "She must be on her break." Emma thought by herself. There was now a slightly younger auburn haired woman sitting in the older lady's former place. She didn’t really look like she was happy to be here.

"Hi, we're here to return the keys from the kayak and the safety vests." Emma stated, as she put the keys on the desk.

"Yes." The woman answered, while barely looking at them. "Here's your ID." She said as she sighed deeply, which caused Emma to roll her eyes.

"Thank you," The blonde said as she grabbed her ID and put the vest and paddles in their respective places.

"Well she certainly won't get the award for friendliest receptionist." Emma shrugged as they walked outside.

 Emma walked back towards her caravan, to change her clothes and to have lunch, since it was a little after 12PM by now. 

"Did you have fun kayaking?" Ingrid asked, as Emma sat down at the table.

"Yeah, it was amazing."

James chuckled. "Well, to you, every sport that involves water is amazing."

"You've got a point there."

Ingrid sat down as well after filling everyone's glasses with water. "Could you ask her if she wants to have dinner with us one of these days? I'm not sure on the day yet, but I'll let you know later."

"Yes, sure, I'll ask her."

* * *

"Hey Em!" Anna and Elsa yelled from outside about an hour later. "Want to come with us to animation?"

Emma walked towards the two girls, "Yeah sure, I got nothing planned. Where's Killian though?"

"He's already there with Victor." Anna shrugged, no one liked that guy, well, except for Killian.

"Yeah okay, let me just grab my phone." She said as she walked back inside to grab the mobile device from the table.

"So, when are you going to make your move with Regina?" Anna smirked, as they walked towards the first floor of the yellow painted, main building.

The blonde sighed. "Damnit Killian."

"No, he didn't tell us, it's just kind of obvious, Emma." Anna said.

This statement caused her to blush. "I- I don't know." She shrugged.

"Just let me know when anything happens, " Elsa smiled happily. That was the fun thing about the younger blonde, she was always happy for someone else, even when her own life was falling into pieces.

"Ay, Emma!" Killian yelled when he caught sight of the blonde.

Victor, who was standing behind the brunet, walked closer to Emma. "If you'd let me, I could show you how much more fun it is to be straight. I could change your mind, you know." He said.

"Ughh, go away Victor." The blonde said, pushing him aside to clear the way. She turned towards Killian, "Why are you even friends with that guy?" She said, as she followed the two younger girls inside.

As they walked inside, Emma spotted Regina. Her lips curled into a smile almost instantly.

"Hello." The brunette animator greeted them.

A soft red blush appeared on the blonde's cheeks. "Hi." She sheepishly smiled.

"So, girls. Can you come with me? So I'll brief you what the activity is for this afternoon." Regina said to Anna and Elsa.

They both nodded and followed her. Until Regina turned around to face the blonde once again.

"Emma, would you like to help out with this activity?" She asked.

"No thanks, I'm a little awkward around children, I'll just watch you guys do your thing."

The brunette nodded. "Okay, you can still come with to the briefing if you want to though."  
"Yeah, yeah sure." Emma said as she followed the older brunette.

* * *

A few moments later, she was back in the big hall where the kids usually danced to a few songs before starting the activity. Emma was sitting on one of the table's in the back while Anna, Elsa, Tink and Regina danced to the songs with the younger kids. Emma remembered some of the songs from when she was younger, even though a lot of new songs were made in the past six years.

Another ten minutes later the group arrived at the grass field. Regina explained to the kids what they were supposed to do. There was a treasure hunt planned for today, most of the kids knew what the rules and such were, and they could always ask further questions to the leader of their own group. They were divided in 3 groups, one leaded by Anna, another one by Elsa and the last one by Tink.

Regina would stay put for when someone would get lost, Emma decided to sit next to her so they could maybe finish their conversation from last night.

"Our conversation got caught off quite abruptly last night, didn't it?" The brunette said.

Emma nodded. "Indeed."

"Do you remember by any chance where we left off?" Regina asked, as she turned towards the younger woman.

“I do, actually.” Emma swallowed. “I was wondering if maybe, you wanted to go out with me sometime?”

Regina smiled, “Yes, I’d love to.”

“Now was that so hard? It was about damn time if you ask me!” Killian yelled from the background.

The blonde turned annoyedly towards the brunet, “Could you mind your own business, Jones?”

Emma took a deep breath, as she turned back towards Regina. “Sorry about him.”

“It’s fine.” She replied while repositioning herself. “Are you free thursday night? I have the evening off then.”

The blonde nodded. “Yeah, thursday is great!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed the second chapter. I'm going to try and keep up this schedule and update this fic every Sunday!


	3. These Scars are a Part of Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for self-harm, emotional abuse, physical abuse
> 
> This chapter is some backstory for Emma, there's going to be a few chapters like this one throughout the story. There's no Swan Queen in this chapter, but I'll make up for that next week!

_Emma was travelling by train to Lily. Her mom didn’t know. As far as she knew, her daughter was staying at a friend’s house, which technically, she was. Because she'd still be spending the night at Ruby's tonight, just like yesterday, which she always did when she'd visit Lily._

"Hey babe." Emma said, as she got off the train and pulled the brunette in for a hug.

"Hey." Lily replied, while giving the blonde a kiss. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." Emma smiled. "So, what are we going to do today?"

Lily wrapped her arm around the girl. "I was thinking, maybe we could go for a walk. And grab something to eat in that new sandwich bar down the street."

"Sounds like a plan."

They exited the train station and made their way down the street, as they enjoyed the sunshine. Emma was so happy. She still couldn't get her head around the fact that Lily was her girlfriend. She was one lucky lady.

* * *

A few minutes later they entered the sandwich bar. Emma ordered a ham sandwich, while Lily decided to go for one with cheese.

The two of them took place on the grass next to the river, away from everything and everyone else. Just them. It was their regular spot.

When Emma finished her sandwich, she turned to her girlfriend. She stared into her beautiful brown eyes while placing her right hand on her leg. "I love you." She whispered into her ear. Emma cupped the brunette's cheek, and planted a kiss on Lily's perfect lips.

Lily knew, just by looking into Emma's emerald eyes, what she had planned. The blonde stood up, grabbed the brunette's hand, and pulled her with into the bushes. Emma pushed the brunette down and climbed on top of her, while placing another intense kiss on her lips.

"I love you too." The brunette answered while Emma quickly removed Lily’s top. Continuing to undress the brunette after placing a kiss on her chest.

"It's kind of cold out here, with barely any clothes on and stuff." Lily said, after the blonde had finished taking of her jeans.

Emma smirked, "Don’t worry, I'll warm you up.”

* * *

Their relationship went great for a while, until it didn’t. One night, Emma opened her laptop, which she always brought with her whenever she visited Lily, if they decided to watch a movie together. Lily’s facebook was still open, she must have forgotten to close it. There was an unread message.

Against better judgement, she opened it. The conversation went back forever. She had been talking to and meeting up with her ex boyfriend behind Emma’s back for months. The blonde had her suspicions a few months ago, but Lily had assured her there was nothing going on, they had just met up once because her mom knew his parents and that had been it, or so she said at the time.

Emma sighed. “I knew it.” The blonde closed her laptop and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. She searched for Lily’s number in her contacts. And decided to call her, she tapped her foot on the floor, waiting impatiently for the brunette to answer the phone.

“ _Hi, Lily here. I’m unable to answer your call right now, but call me back later_.” It sounded at the other end of the line.

“Fine, ignore me.” She said, while ending the call.

Emma tapped the messaging icon on her phone and opened the conversation with Lily.

Sent (09:27 PM): Meet me at our spot, tomorrow at 3PM.

She hit send and put her phone back on the nightstand. She took off her shoes and went to lie down on her bed.

Emma honestly did not know whether to be angry or sad. Tears were rolling down her face, yet she was cursing she was so stupid to believe Lily’s lies.

* * *

She must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next morning, Emma woke up to find the notification light on her phone blinking. She unlocked her phone and saw that she had 4 unread messages from the brunette.

Received (10:57 PM): Hey babe, sorry my phone was charging in my bedroom.

Received (10:57 PM): Why? What's wrong?

Received (11:09 PM): Babe?

Received (11:24 PM): Why are you ignoring me?  

Emma sighed, as she replied to Lily's messages.

Sent (08:46 AM): Just be there.

It was currently a few minutes after 3 and Lily was, yet, nowhere to be seen. The longer Emma had to wait, the angrier she got.

“Hey.” The blonde suddenly heard behind her, which caused Emma to turn around.

Lily leant in to give her a kiss but Emma pushed her away in rejection, which caused the brunette to give her a confused look. "What’s wrong?”

Emma huffed. “Like you don’t know.”

The girl put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Babe, I honestly have no idea what -”

“Don’t,” Emma said, while pushing the brunette’s hand of her shoulder. “Don’t _babe_ me.” The blonde looked into her eyes.

The fear in Lily’s eyes was clearly visible. Lily knew Emma found out about it, she didn't know how. But she did.

“Why?” Emma asked, after a few moments of silence.

The brunette looked down. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“Never meant to hurt you..” The blonde repeated. “Is that why you decided to cheat on me, and lie to my face about it for months?! How is that not hurting me, Lily?” Emma sighed, furiously. “You keep doing this, and I keep falling for your little ‘I will never do it again’ talk. Every. Fucking. Time.”

The brunette looked down, once again. “I’m sorry.” She muttered.

“I can’t do shit with I’m sorry.” Emma’s eyes were now tearing up. They looked sad, yet furious. Which was Emma’s scariest kind of look.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I did this. It was such an stupid thing to do. But I promise you, I’ll never do it again.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “I believe I’ve heard that before.”

“Look at me, I’m serious, Emma. You are way too important to me. I can’t lose you, I _love_ you.”

The blonde looked down, shaking her head. “Just stop.” She said, as she turned around and walked away.

* * *

 Lily froze in her spot, Emma meant the world to her. Yet, she only seemed to make the blonde unhappy. She knew she didn’t love the blonde as much as she loved her, but one always loved more. And in this case that one, was Emma.

_Emma._

Lily ran the same way the blonde went a few minutes ago. She stopped when she saw Emma, sitting on the stairs. The blonde was holding a razor between her thumb and index finger. Lily closed her eyes, _no_.

She quickly made her way closer to her, but she was too late. Four cuts were showing on Emma’s wrist. There was still blood flowing out of some of them. Lily sighed. “ _Babe..._ ”

“DON’T FUCKING _BABE_ ME!” Emma yelled at the brunette, the tears now rolling down her cheeks.

“I- I’m sorry.” Lily muttered, shocked by the blonde's furious reaction as she went to sit down next to her girlfriend.

The blonde had started cutting herself after Lily had cheated on her for the first time. Lily had apologized and apologized, because she didn't want to lose the blonde. And after the blonde was about to walk away, she had grabbed her wrist which caused her to flinch. That's when Lily had discovered what the blonde had been doing to herself. She had tried to help her but she couldn't do enough.

There was a silence, Emma was lost in her thoughts. This wasn’t the first time the brunette lied to her, the first time was only a few weeks into their relationship. Lily slept over at her ex’ place and she ‘forgot’ to inform Emma about the matter. Until now, she still didn’t know if they slept together that night. But this time was different, Emma _knew_ this time. Hell, she even saw the proof on her computer screen last night.

Lily cheated on her with that same ex, only a few weeks ago. Did their relationship mean nothing at all to the brunette? They had been dating for over a year, and it’s like Lily didn’t even care, because she kept pulling the same shit.

“I’m done.” Emma stated, before standing up and walking away from the brunette.

Lily’s head shot up, she couldn’t let Emma just leave. She jumped up and ran after her.

“Emma!” She yelled, as she grabbed the blonde’s arm. “Wait..”

The blonde shook her head, “For what? If it’s anything besides a freakin’ miracle, it’s not worth the wait.” she said, as she tried to pull her arm away, which only caused for Lily to tighten her grip. She turned the blonde around, so she could look into her eyes. Lily pressed her lips against Emma’s.

The blonde was surprised by the sudden contact; she honestly didn't know whether she wanted to kiss her or not.

"See, I knew you still loved me." Lily said, as she broke the kiss.

Emma shook her head. "It's not because I love you that I want to be with you."

This statement broke Lily's heart. The brunette went quiet, while her eyes teared up.

"As I said before, I'm done." Emma said, as she continued to walk away.


	4. Jump In The Deep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma is stressed about her date with Regina, while Ruby is freaking out about her date with Belle.

"Emma! For god's sake, where have you been?" Ruby yelled as she ran towards the blonde. She was walking towards Killian’s caravan, they have breakfast together every wednesday morning, they started doing so years ago, and it became some sort of tradition.

Emma turned around to face her slightly smaller friend. "I was sleeping? Honey, it's not even  9 AM?"

"What?" The brunette glanced at her watch. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I've been up since 6 AM, so I kind of forgot about the time."

"That stressed out about your date huh?" The blonde giggled.

Ruby sighed. "It's not a date!"

“Sure it’s not…”

The brunette took another deep breath. “Okay, but I need you to help me pick out some clothes for tonight.”

“I’ll come around after lunch?” Emma suggested. “I’m on my way to Killian’s to have breakfast right now.”

“Sounds good., I’ll see you later, Em!” Ruby said, before giving her a kiss on the cheek and taking off again.

* * *

“Good morning!” Emma said, as she entered the front tent.

Killian’s mom smiled at the blonde. “Good morning, Emma, how are you?”

“I’m great, Mrs Jones, thank you.”

She poked her head through the door of the caravan, “Emma’s here, girls, time for breakfast!”

Anna and Elsa exited the caravan, and sat around the table.

Emma looked at Killian’s empty seat. “Don’t tell me he’s still sleeping again?”

The two sisters chuckled. “No, he’s at the sanitary block getting dressed, he’ll be here soon.” Killian’s mom said, as she sat down as well.

Emma told Mrs Jones about her plans for college, and how the past year had been. While she told her about what they had been up to. After Killian arrived, they finished breakfast and made their way to the animation room after.

* * *

During the morning activity, the children were making a robot. Some of the older children teamed up and created a robot costume with cardboard boxes and aluminium foil. The younger kids sticked to pasting aluminium foil on a drawing of a robot.

Regina was helping a little boy with his robot, since he seemed to be struggling with his drawing.

Emma wasn’t a fan of kids, never had been. But seeing Regina spending time with these kids made her heart flutter.

“At least she knows you’re probably staring at her now.” Killian commented, as he took as sip of his coke.

Emma rolled her eyes. “ _ Don’t punch him. Don’t punch him. _ ” She repeated silently to herself.

“If you’re going to punch him, please do it outside.” Regina said, who was suddenly standing in front of her. 

The blonde hadn’t even seen her walk up here, “I’ll keep that in mind.” Emma chuckled.

* * *

“Okay, give me all the red clothes you brought.”

Ruby eyed the blonde, “Why red?”

“Because red is the colour of love.” Emma stated, which caused the brunette to roll her eyes. Emma shook her head. “Don’t start. Besides, red is your colour.”

She took a deep breath. “Okay, if you say so.”

“This top is nice!” Emma said, as she held up a red … top in front of her. Did you bring those light blue jeans that bring out your ass?”

Ruby sighed, as she grabbed the jeans and handed them to Emma. “I’m so glad it’s just us here.”

Emma layed out out the outfit on the bed in front of her, as she nodded in agreement with herself. “Yes. This is it.”

“Okay.” Ruby said uncertainly.

The blonde put her hands on her slightly smaller friend. “It will be fine, relax, be yourself. You got this.”

She nodded slightly. “Let’s hope so.”

After Emma said goodbye to her friend, as she left for her not-date. She went back to her caravan, she had an evening for herself planned. She took her book and some extra pillows with her in her tent, as she prepared for some me-time. She went to bed around 11 so she was very well rested for tomorrow night.

* * *

After she woke up, had breakfast, brushed her teeth and got dressed, she noticed she had 3 unread messages from Ruby. As she left her caravan, after saying goodbye to her godparents, she scrolled through the messages.

 

Received (07:21 AM): Are you up yet? I need to talk to you about last night!

Received (07:22 AM): Please come to the teen cave as soon as you can!

Received (08:04 AM): How are you not up yet, didn’t you go to sleep early yesterday.

 

As she started to reply to the messages, she received another one. 

Received (09:25 AM): How are you not up yet, when will you start to check your messages in the morning??

She laughed at the messages the brunette sent her. 

Sent (09:26 AM): Sorry! I’m on my way to the teen cave right now, are you still there?

Received (09:26 AM): YES! I’ve been here since 7:30!

* * *

As soon as Emma arrived upstairs, an enthusiastic Ruby exited the teen cave and ran towards her. “Okay, sit down, I need to talk to you.”

Emma sat down at the picnic table, as Ruby sat down across from her.

“Belle is moving back to Maine, she got accepted into a university closeby.” 

The blonde looked at her friend confusedly. “That’s.. It? We already knew that right?”

“Well, yes. But now it’s official. It’s actually happening!”

Emma smiled happily at the brunette. “I’m really happy for you, you deserve all the happiness.”

“Thank you. And, yeah, we kissed.”

Emma nodded excitedly. “I could actually tell that from your face when you ran towards me. Still think it wasn’t a date?”

“Oh no, it definitely was.” Ruby answered, as she took a deep breath. “She’s actually going to move back to Maine, we’ll only live like half an hour away from each other now.”

The blonde smiled at her, “I’m really happy for you, Rubes. So what else happened last night?”

“She told me about how Boston has been. It sounds amazing, honestly. But she seemed excited to move back here.”

 

Belle’s parents moved to Boston a little over a year ago, and she had to go with them. Ruby and Belle had been on a few dates before Belle’s parents had broke the news. Back then they had decided to stay friends, because Ruby knew what distance did to a relationship. She saw how Lily and Emma’s relationship ended, and the distance between Belle and Ruby would have been even greater. But now that she’s moving back here, they might be able to give it another chance.

 

“We should double date, like later on, if it all works out.” Emma said. 

Ruby chuckled. “Oh please, you’re a catch, why wouldn’t it work out?”

Emma shrugged. Past relationships haven’t really worked out in her favour, at all. So of course she was terrified. Her train of thought got broken off by Graham. Who had joined the two of them.

“Are you nervous about tonight?” Graham asked, as Emma lighted another cigarette only a few moments after putting out her last one.

“It’s that obvious, huh?”

“The stress-smoking is kind of giving it away, yeah.”

Emma put her head down on the table. “I just need tonight to go well.” She mumbled.

“It will go well.” Graham said, as he put his arm around the blonde. “You got this.”

“I hope so.”

* * *

“So,” Regina said, as she put down the two beers and sat down across Emma. “Tell me some more about yourself.”

Emma sighed. “Uhm, what do you want to know?”

“Everything. Who is Emma Swan?”

“Well, as you know, I’m 18 years old. I love to swim, and I love pizza, but who doesn’t, right?” Emma chuckled, as Regina joined in. “You can’t trust people who don’t love pizza, honestly.”

A smile formed upon the blonde’s lips, “Oh and I also adore sunsets!”

“Adore? But the sky looks way more beautiful when the sun rises though,” Regina said. Emma nodded considerately, “That may be true, but why does it always have to be so damn early?” Regina chuckled. “And I am not really a morning person.” Emma continued. 

“We could go watch one together, if you’re willing to get up early for the occasion?” The brunette asked.

"Yeah, we can do that." Emma agreed, as she stared into the brunette's brown orbs. "But not before you tell me something about you, Regina Mills."

"Well, I'm 25 years old. I like spending time at the beach, I find it very relaxing. So getting a job nearby a beach seemed ideal. And I have a sister, Zelena, she works at the reception at the camping.

The blonde choked on her beer as Regina said so. The auburn haired lady she met when Ruby and herself went to bring the canoes back a few days ago, was Regina's sister?

"What's wrong, dear?" The brunette asked worriedly.

Emma looked up at the woman in front of her. "I may have met her a few days ago." She confessed.

"I take it that she didn't make a very good first impression?" Regina chuckled.

"Yeah..." She said softly, slightly embarrassed.

The brunette offered her a smile. "Don't be embarrassed about the matter, dear. I know my sister can be quite a  _ bitch _ sometimes."

Emma nodded, as she was not really sure what she was supposed to say.

"So," Regina broke the silence. "You're a single child, correct? Have you never wanted to have a sister or a brother?" She asked.

"Well, actually, my mom is expecting at the moment. And I'm really looking forward to the whole ‘big sister’ thing." The blonde confessed,

as the brunette nodded along. "Do you already know if it's going to be a girl or a boy?"

A smile appeared on Emma's face. "Yeah..." The blonde said, as she tilted her head closer towards the older woman. "It's gonna be a boy, but keep it quiet okay? No one's supposed to know." She whispered in her ear.

"Yes of course, dear." Regina said.

“What made you get a job in the entertainment industry?” Emma asked her, after they got their second round of beers. 

“Well, I’m a middle school teacher, and to pass the time during school holidays, I followed an entertainment course a few years ago, and now here I am.”

 

When they had finished their second round of beers as well, the duo walked outside the bar.

"Would you like to?" Regina asked, as she gestured to the stairs that led to the beach.

"I’d love to." Emma said.

As they arrived at the beach, they lied down in the sand. The blonde understood now how relaxing Regina found this. There was no sound, except for the waves of the sea.

Regina was lying very closely to Emma now, “This is nice.” The blonde said, as she turned her head towards Regina.

“I know.” 

“You know, if I have to get up on an ungodly hour to watch a sunrise, you should come play laser tag with me someday.”

Regina just stared at her. “Laser tag?”

“Don’t give me that look, I promise, it’ll be fun.”

“If you say so.”


	5. Happy Birthday, Graham

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is focusing a lot on the other characters in the story, there’s some Swan Queen though, but I’m giving the other characters some backstory as well. Also sorry this is a week late, I was sick last week and couldn’t focus very well because of that. I hope you’ll enjoy this chapter!

Emma was walking towards the teen cave. She was up earlier than usual, this morning she woke up with a smile on her face, and it hadn’t gone away since. After last night,

“Hey, Emma!” It sounded from behind her. “You’re coming tonight, right?”

The blonde turned around, Killian was standing in front of her. “Yeah of course, why wouldn’t I?”

Killian shrugged. “Maybe you had plans with Regina.” He said, followed by a chuckle.

“Oh shut up, we only had our first date yesterday.”

“Yeah, how did that go by the way?”

Emma smiled, as they entered the teen cave. “It went really great.”

 

“Emma Ruth Swan. We need to talk about last night. Let’s go.” Ruby said, as she jumped up from her seat and pulled the blonde back outside.

“Guess I’ll see you guys later!” She yelled at Killian, and Graham, whom was also sitting in the teen cave.

 

“Spill it.” Ruby said, before they even managed to sat down at one of the picknick tables outside.

“It went really great.” Emma said, as her smile grew wider. “We had a few beers, then we went to lie down on the beach and we looked at the stars and talked some more.”

Ruby smiled as the blond happily told her about last night. “When’s your next date?”

“We’re going to watch the sunrise Saturday morning. But I’ll see her around until then.” Emma explained. “When is _your_ next date?”

The brunette shrugged. “We’re spending a lot of time together, but we’re not really going on dates.”

“That sounds nice, you deserve all the happiness in the world.” Emma said, “Look at us, finally getting our shit together. We’ve grown up.”

 

After Belle joined them, the trio went back to the teen cave, where Killian and Graham were still hanging out.

"Sorry about that earlier, happy birthday Graham."

Graham chuckled. "It's fine, when Ruby gets excited, there's not much you can do to stop her."

“So, when does your party start tonight?” The brunette asked, as she sat down next to Graham.

Graham shrugged, “We’re going to start setting up a little after 8PM, but we’ll definitely be ready by 9PM.”

“Who’s coming though?” Emma asked.

“A bunch of people who haven’t been here in a while are travelling here for the occasion. Jefferson, Neal, August, Mulan and Aurora are all coming. And you guys of course!”

“Aurora’s coming?” Killian asked quietly.

Graham nodded in reply. “Yeah, why? Is there some history there, Jones?”

“You could say that, yeah.” He answered quietly.

Aurora was 3 years older than the brunet. Killian used to have the biggest crush on her, and he made a fool of himself more than once back then. So to see her again, was not really something he was looking forward to, yet some part of him was a little excited to see her again.

 

The group’s attention was drawn to the hallway, as there was a noise coming from that direction. Anna, Elsa, and the rest of the animation team, Regina included, walked through the hallway towards the meeting room, which was across from the teen cave.

Regina smiled softly at the blonde, as Emma smiled back at her.

“Look at you, being all in love.” Killian said.

The blonde looked back at him, as she rolled her eyes.

The brunet picked up on that, as he shook his head. “I don’t mean it in a bad way, it’s just nice to see you happy.”

Emma wasn’t really used to him showing her how much he cared about her happiness, it’s not that she didn’t know he did, he just never talked about it. It felt a little strange, but it was nice.

* * *

Around 9PM the first people started to arrive, Graham had used some of his connections so that he could have the party in the festivity hall, since they didn’t use it on a Thursday night anyways.

“I have missed you two so much.” Graham said, as Aurora and Mulan walked towards him.

Aurora smiled, “Oh, it’s been way too long!” She exclaimed, as she gave him a hug.

“Hey, man.” Mulan said, as she gave him a hug ass well. “Thanks for inviting us.”

Graham smiled at the two of them. “Are you kidding? Thank you for coming.”

Aurora and Mulan both smiled, “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“You know what, I’m going to get us some drinks. Champagne for you two?”

“Did someone say drinks? I’m up for that!” Jefferson said, as he and August walked towards the group.

Graham gave them both a hug, “Thanks for coming, guys.”

August smiled at him. “Happy to be here, Neal is running a bit late, but he’s on his way.”

 “Let’s go get those drinks!”

* * *

“I haven’t seen you in a while.” Killian said, as he shifted from one foot to the other.

Aurora looked up at him, “Yeah, life got busy.” She said, as she moved her hands along vividly. Which caused Killian to notice the ring on her finger. “You’re married?”

The blonde looked at her finger, “No, engaged.”

Killian nodded as he wrapped his head around this new information. “Do I know him?”

“Her,” Aurora said, “and yes, you do.” She continued, as she looked at Mulan in the distance, whom was talking to Graham.

“Oh,” Killian answered. “I’m really happy for you two.”

The blonde smiled at him, “Thanks, Killian.”

* * *

“You look a little bored.” Graham said, as he walked up to Emma.

The blonde looked up at him, “What? No, I’m amusing myself. I’m not the dancing type, you know that.”

Graham nodded along. “Sure, look behind you, I invited them, thought you’d like that.”

Emma turned around, only to be face to face with Regina, whom had just entered the hall.

“Hey!” She said to her, before turning back to Graham, “You’re amazing, thanks.”

“I’ll leave you two to it.” He said, before disappearing.

* * *

“Do you guys know where Killian is? I haven’t seen him in like an hour.”

Emma, Regina, Ruby and Belle had been talking for a while now, and the blonde hadn’t seen him anywhere since he went off to talk to Aurora.

“No, haven’t seen him.” Ruby said. “Maybe Graham has seen him?"

 

Emma walked up to her older friend, whom was talking to Tink. “Hi, sorry to disturb, but have you seen Killian? I don’t see him anywhere.”

“No, I haven’t seen him in a while. Have you asked Ruby?”

The blonde nodded. “Yeah, she sent me to you.”

“He’ll show up again eventually.”

* * *

A few moments later Emma and Regina walked outside to go have a smoke, they noticed a couple making out in a corner. One of them looked quite familiar to Emma. “Killian?” She wondered aloud.

Her brunet friend turned around, which made it possible for her to see with whom he had been spending the night with. It was one of Graham’s friends, called Neal.

“I KNEW IT! I knew you weren’t straight!” Emma yelled excitedly.

Killian scratched the back of his head, as he shrugged, since he wasn’t really sure how to response to that.

“Emma, maybe we should give them some privacy.” Regina said.

The blonde chuckled. “Fine, have fun my dudes.” The blonde said, as she followed Regina outside.

 

The group ended the night with some drinking games, and around 4AM, everyone made their way to their own caravans. Emma did too, with the help of Regina, since she might have had a bit too much to drink. The blonde just had one thought before falling asleep, that Regina is the best thing that had happened to her in a really long time.


End file.
